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Armond Braddock
"Aliens will not rest until they have conquered, showing no emotion, no compassion, no weakness or fear, and we, too, must fight to the death. For if we fail, there will be no future generations to eulogize us, no one to learn from our mistakes."Game Information on pandemicstudios.com "...the people back on Earth - those you left behind - cannot be feel safe until they are free from the very worry of alien terrorism, cleansed of even the thought of the threat."ISDF Unit Information on pandemicstudios.com Armond Braddock was one of the most important people of the late 20th Century. His actions with the NSDF during the years during and shortly after the Biometal War, particularly with Project Pedigree, led to the formation and shaping of, and significant changes within, the ISDF as well as the formation and near-destruction of the Scion Convergence. Early Life Armond Braddock showed a fascination with biology and the sciences from an early age. He excelled at such subjects at High School and was granted a scholarship to study at Harvard University and later the Massachusets Institute of Technology, where he performed exceptionally. His main interest lay in improving organisms beyond what they really were; Braddock could not stand inferiority where it could be fixed, or weeded out and some would call him a Social Darwinist. Having gained his undergraduate degree unusually early in life, he was swiftly taken on by the institution's PhD research program where he gained a doctorate in applied chemistry and physics. After his name appeared in the Journal of Astrophysics in the mid 1950s attached to an article discussing the propulsion properties of inorganic elements, the NSDF's attention was drawn to him and they sought his involvement. With the NSDF Dr. Braddock initially had only minor involvement in the NSDF. He was given a placement as a weapons researcher under Wilhelm Arkin, where he was given a small team of scientists and limited amounts of biometal to create a super-soldier to win the war. Fate offered a window when intelligence reports started coming in of CCA development of a new craft that merged human DNA with Bio-Metal. Taking inspiration, Braddock attempted such an experiment on his own. Fate again offered him the perfect test subjects in the remains of the Black Dogs, a crack force of NSDF soldiers who had just suffered heavy casualties in engagements with the Furies on Titan. This new endeavour was given the codename "Project Pedigree"; instead of merging human DNA into the bio-metal as the Soviets had foolishly done, Braddock merged bio-metal with the human body, vastly improving the body's chemical and physical capabilities as well as making it much more resistant to disease and other kinds of malfunction. Free of imperfection, they were the culmination of all of Braddock's dreams; his insatiable drive for perfection had created a new race that could put humanity to shame. Braddock was also responsible for identifying the weakness of the Fury forces on Achilles. Scion Exodus Regrettably, Braddock's sense of drive was becoming dangerously unchecked and his ego was getting the better of him. Feeling that the Black Dogs were truly invincible, Braddock began to show intentions to use them for his own needs, whatever those may have been and however far they reached. Fearing that they were going to become pawns in Braddock's scheme, the Black Dogs and some of Braddock's own staff united under former Black Dog Commander Frank Burns and broke loose from Braddock's control, fleeing to the edge of the solar system. With his worldly desires now dashed with the loss of his private army, Braddock managed to cover up his tracks in a truly remarkable series of paper burnings and file purgings to the point that little to no record of the project remained. With his tracks covered, he then launched an elaborate campaign of social engineering and propaganda; he claimed the Black Dogs had gone rogue and labelled them as a second coming of the Furies, spearheading the merging of the NSDF and CCA into the ISDF and using the newborn military juggernaut to chase them from the solar system. Peace-time Following the expulsion of the Scions from the system, Braddock enjoyed a string of promotions - from Colonel in the immediate aftermath to General and ultimately Commander-in-Chief of the ISDF by the mid-90s. He would eventually become a staunch opponent of the AAN, which he felt was causing the ISDF to become bogged down in Earthly matters while its real duty lay in protecting the Earth from alien aggressors. Braddock's plans grew no slower with his success. While the AAN's back was turned he began funnelling funds in order to build a series of frontier bases on the edge of the solar system. He used these to surreptitiously make peaceful contact with the Black Dogs - now identifying themselves as the Scion Convergence - in the hope of learning more about their technology and finding a weakness. Scion War Moments before Voyager II discovered one of his forward bases on the Dark Planet, Braddock had it shot down using a Scion missile. In framing the Scions for the attack, he gave the rest of the ISDF a reason to enter open war against them. Braddock now had the opportunity to cover up his tracks once and for all and to eliminate the Scion race. He continued to paint the Scions as an alien menace bent on the destruction of humankind in order to press IDSF forces into combat, but as the war progressed, power and fear started to consume him as he had to go to ever further further lengths to keep information regarding his previous knowledge of and relations with the Scions a secret from the rest of the ISDF. Several members of the ISDF were killed in order to maintain Braddock's illusion. He ordered Yelena Shabayev's death after she attempted to investigate the Alchemators, fearing she would discover that they were not weapons as he claimed. Similarly, Braddock arranged the execution of Pax Kossieh in order to prevent the AAN from entering peace talks with the Scions, and Henry Manson - who previously had been privy to most of his plans - was abandoned on Rend soon after. Both Manson and Shabayev, it turned out, survived his attempts on their lives. ISDF Ending Braddock's campaign against the Scions would nevertheless lead to their complete destruction. After crushing the resistance presented by Manson, Braddock ordered John Cooke, his right-hand man, to descend into the tunnels beneath the surface of the Scion home planet and destroy its central processor. The entire Scion population, which relied on the biometaloid to stabilise the bio-metal in their systems, died out within a few months. He then enacted the final part of his plan and turned his forces towards Earth, overthrowing the AAN and proclaiming himself Supreme Ruler. Scion Ending As Braddock's plans accelerated, so did the resistance against him by Manson's AAN Loyalists and the Scions increase. As the Scions slowly re-activated each of the Alchemators Braddock had disabled they eventually forced a final confrontation against him before the Rend Alchemator, where he was finally killed. Personality Braddock had been identified as an egotistical individual upon joining the NSDF in 1955. Psychological analysis noted that he had a strong sense of drive that could present a problem if left unchecked, alongside a strong sense of self-worth. He occasionally prioritised the objective too highly in scenario testing, but this was overlooked in favour of his loyalty and lack of familial ties. This turned out to be one of the greater problems with Braddock's position in the ISDF, as he proved willing to sacrifice an entire fleet in chasing down the Scions. His inflated self-worth proved his downfall as he decided to face Scion forces on Rend personally, a decision which ultimately lead to his death. References :1. Battlezone II Manual :2. pandemicstudios.com :3. Battlezone II :4. Battlezone II Official Strategy Guide Category:Characters Category:ISDF Category:NSDF Category:Featured Articles